Just One More Drink Tonight
by ChickWithThePurpleGuitar
Summary: College AU. Leo's friends have never been the most sane of people, and that insanity mostly shows after a night at the bar. Unfortunately, since Leo works as a bartender, they end up having a lot of those nights. And when one of those very nights goes differently than planned, Leo starts to wonder if they'll ever get their sanity back. T for alcohol.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is a fic cowritten with Smart Girl, who doesn't have an account on this site. She wrote most of it, I mostly just edited and added a few lines. But in general, this is Smart Girl's fic. I wanted her to write me a fic with all of my favorite things in it, and it ended up being a fic about PJO characters in college getting drunk.**

**So, here's chapter one. Established ships in this fic are Percabeth, Frazel, past!Prachel, Jasico, and Caleo.**

**So anyway, enjoy. And please review!**

**Disclaimer: We own nothing.**

* * *

Chapter One

Leo Valdez was once again cleaning the bar, bored out of his mind. It was almost nine o'clock, he'd been working his shift for the last hour and a half, he had roughly eight hours left to go, and until his friends got here, it was going to be a living hell.

Leo sometime wasn't sure whether he was friends with Percy's crowd because they came to his bar, or if they were friends with him because he was a bartender. Either way, it was a quiet bar, hidden in the boroughs of New York, in between an abandoned Stop and Shop, and the rundown old building where Grover lived. And he only lived there so that the city wouldn't tear it down. It really wasn't much of a building.

Leo hopefully looked up when he heard the bell tinkle as a customer walked in, and grinned as he saw Percy Jackson, one of their regulars (Leo's regulars; not enough people spent time at this bar to merit the plural pronoun), walk in, noticeably girlfriend-less.

"Hey Perce, where's Annabeth?"

Percy sighed, looking sad. "She's got a cold and couldn't come."

Leo smiled sympathetically. "Man, that's rough, dude. It's like I always say, it's no fun making out with somebody who's sick. Unless they're _really hot._" Percy raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment, instead asking for his usual, a strawberry daiquri, and ignoring Leo's not-so-whispered comment about girly drinks.

"Where are the others?" Percy asked, sipping his drink.

"Well, last time I checked, Rachel texted saying she was coming, Grover was at an environmental rally and couldn't make it, and Jason and Nico were having a make-out session at my apartment. I mean seriously, I shouldn't have to knock going into my own apartment. Well, I guess technically it's Jason's, but I live there too!"

Percy chuckled. "Nico does like to make out. N-Not that I know from experience," he quickly added.

Leo nodded, clearly _not_ believing him. Luckily for Percy, the bell rang again and in sauntered Rachel Elizabeth Dare.

"Hey Percy. Nice to see I'm not the first one here. Gin, please," she added to Leo. While he was getting the drink, she turned to Percy. "Last time, he spent the entire night hitting on me. Doesn't he have a girlfriend?"

"Yes I do," Leo said, putting the glass down with a little more force than strictly necessary, "But if you paid attention, you would know that she's studying abroad, in Greece."

Rachel took her drink, offering no form of apology, and asked, "Didn't she have a thing for Percy, though?"

Leo laughed. "Everybody had a thing for Percy at one time or another. Even I did."

Percy spluttered into his daiquiri and looked up. "What?"

Leo nodded. "Yeah, like I said, everybody has."

Rachel nodded in agreement. "It's kind of true."

"Wha- no it isn't!" Percy tried to insist.

Rachel looked around the mostly empty bar for someone who could help prove her point, and excitedly noticed that two of their friends had just walked in.

"Hey Jason," she called to one of them, who had to physically remove his boyfriend's mouth from his to turn to her. "Did you ever have a thing for Percy?"

Jason's eyebrows knit in just the tiniest bit of confusion, but he answered as if the question were perfectly normal. "Of course. Hasn't everyone?"

Rachel grinned smugly at Percy. "See?"

The shorter man who had walked in with Jason grabbed his hand and dragged him over to sit next to their friends, then commenced sitting on his lap (despite the fact that there were plenty of extra chairs). "Except I liked him first, therefore I win."

Leo frowned challengingly at Nico. "No, I think Annabeth liked Percy before you did, dude."

"Well, yeah, but I liked him _earliest_," Nico countered, leaning one arm on the bar and wrapping the other around Jason. "I was like ten."

Percy groaned. "Guys, we are _not_ having this conversation!"

"Yeah, come on guys," Jason reprimanded them. Percy started to thank him, but Jason continued, "I'm not even drunk yet! Leo, get us all a round of shots!"

The group cheered, save for Percy (who really, _really_ missed his girlfriend).

Leo poured out the drinks and one for himself, and held his out in a toast. "To crushes on Percy!" The others repeated this (except, of course, for Percy) and swallowed theirs.

This celebratory toast led to Nico and Jason immediately making out for at least a solid minute, after which Nico proclaimed, "Mmm. Alcohol."

Rachel raised her gin in agreement, called out, "I'll drink to that!", and downed it, immediately calling for another. Leo thought for a bit and poured her another, reasoning she was probably immune to some amount of alcohol at this point.

Rachel was just about to swallow the drink when a hand reached out and took it. "I'll take that, thanks." Rachel glared at the offender, who downed it all in one gulp. Thalia Grace grinned cheekily at Rachel and ruffled Jason's hair, ignoring Nico's hands running through it.

"How are my favorite campers?"

Percy frowned. "Thalia, that was when we were in_ middle school_. We haven't been there in _forever." _

Thalia chuckled. "I know. I just like seeing you frown."

Percy's eyes suddenly lit up and he asked, knowing Thalia had recently joined an ultra feminist sorority, "Hey Thalia, Rachel's got a theory I'm trying to disprove. Did you ever.." He faltered, "Ya know, have a… _thing_ for me?" He trailed off.

Thalia stared at him, completely serious, for a few seconds, then shrugged and said, "Only that one Halloween you went as Apollo."

Before Percy could comment, Thalia ordered Leo to get them more drinks. He complied, but when he set one in front of Rachel, Thalia took it, saying, "You didn't pass TLE, you don't get drinks. Which, by the way, Nico," She had to pause to get him off of her brother's face, "Your sister passed. Congrats."

Nico's face lit up. "Seriously? She passed the little elephant?"

"Still not what it stands for," Thalia said. "But yes."

Nico cheered, and said, "I think this calls for another toast! Leo, more shots!"

After Rachel's drink was, once again, stolen, she grabbed the bottle from behind the counter and started chugging it. Thalia yanked it out of her hands, looking appalled. "Never do that. Leave it to the pros." She then tipped her head back and swallowed half the bottle. She grinned wolfishly at Rachel, ignoring the death-glare the other girl was sending her. Thalia leaned in and whispered softly so the others couldn't hear, "Don't want a repeat of last time, dear." Rachel's eyes widened and she looked down, a blush of shame spreading across her cheeks.

"Come on, guys, be nice," Leo scolded, taking the bottle back. "_You two_ aren't buying any more drinks tonight."

Thalia narrowed her eyes at him. "What's that supposed to mean?

Leo rolled his eyes. "It means, next round's on me!"

The resounding cheer echoed throughout the bar.

* * *

By four in the morning, all of Leo's friends were, unsurprisingly, drunk. However, since the bar had to close _sometime_, Leo was forced to kick all of his friends out. As usual, they went to the closest place they could stumble to, which this time was Percy's apartment. Since Percy was incapable of operating a key, Leo took it and unlocked the door. As the group stumbled in, Percy yelled, "Annabeth, I brought company because we're drunk!" Leo rolled his eyes and wondered how on earth the girl had managed to put up with Percy.

"Hey guys, Percy's got beer!" Rachel called from the tiny kitchen. The group cheered, causing a groan to issue from the bedroom. Leo decided since Annabeth was sick, somebody ought to check on her, and since he was by far the least drunk, he decided it would have to be him.

"Percy, I'm going to check on your girlfriend because you're so drunk it's not even funny!" Leo called across the room, but got no response, so he walked into the bedroom.

"Annabeth, you in here?" His eyes weren't adjusted to the gloom and he stubbed his toe on his quest to find Percy's girlfriend. He cursed under his breath and said, "Annabeth, are you ok?" He found the bed and gingerly sat down on it, trying not to think of the implications that came with him being in_ Percy's bedroom_ with_ Percy's girlfriend. _

"Percy, is that you?" A weak voice asked somewhere off to his left.

"Sorry, you're stuck with me, princess." Leo switched on the lamp so Annabeth could see who it was.

"Shut up, Valdez. Was that Percy saying he was drunk?"

"It was." Leo replied with a laugh. "I'm just about the only one left who isn't. Interestingly enough, though, intoxication makes Jason and Nico make out _even more._ I didn't know that was humanly possible."

Annabeth chuckled at this. "Getting kicked out of the apartment a lot, Valdez?"

Leo groaned. "All the freaking time. I mean, I get it, you gotta have a little fun sometimes and a sock on the door means 'don't come in' but we don't have enough freaking socks for that!" Annabeth, who had sat up, raised an eyebrow. "He keeps taking my socks. Like, _all_ of my socks."

Annabeth laughed. "Poor baby. You know, you're always welcome here. We've got a guest room."

_Yeah, and then I could hide from you two instead_, Leo thought, but he said, "We do too, but of course Nico never uses it. But it's fine, next time he stays overnight, I'll just go to Hazel's and steal his room." _Unless Frank is there. Valdez, you need to get a girlfriend who's not always in Greece! _

Annabeth laughed, which soon turned into a cough. Leo leaned forward to help her, but she waved him off. "I'm fine, I just need to take the medicine." She groped for it, but, being doubled over in a coughing fit, she couldn't find it. Leo picked it up off of the table and offered the plastic cup, filled with one dose of foul-smelling liquid. She took it gratefully, swallowed it, and grimaced at the taste. She shook her head, as if trying to rid herself of the taste, but then immediately let out a massive yawn.

Leo wagged his finger at her and said, "You need sleep. Ignore the lunatics in the other room. I'll try and keep them quiet." Annabeth nodded sleepily at him as she laid back against the pillows. "Oh, and Annabeth, could you do me a favor?"

"Don't worry, Leo. I won't tell Percy."

Leo smiled gratefully and switched off the light.

* * *

The scene Leo returned to was… _interesting_, to say the least. Since Thalia had gotten drunk, she had been much less vigilant about watching Rachel, who had wasted no time in breaking out the tequila. _Where_ the tequila had come from, since he knew Percy and Annabeth had none, Leo didn't want to know. Jason handed him a shot glass full of the stuff, and Leo dutifully swallowed it. He sighed. These were never as fun without Calypso. There was almost no point in getting drunk. Instead he contented himself to watch the chaos around him.

Jason and Nico were locked onto each other's mouths and Leo was starting to get worried they would pass out from lack of oxygen. The smaller man was also wrapped completely around the larger man's torso, looking like a koala bear with a suction cup for a mouth, trying to suck out the sap of its tree with nothing but its tongue.

Percy was the only one who had noticed Leo's entrance and was currently stumbling towards him, arms wide open for a hug. Leo braced himself for the impact, but didn't expect Percy to start trying to kiss him. "No, no, I don't need that in my life. You just… go over there… No, don't- Ok, fine, you have fun making out with that pillow. Just stay away from me."

Most interesting of all, however, was Rachel and Thalia. They were lying on the floor, wrapped around each other, and apparently trying to eat each other's faces. Leo stared for a while, trying to figure out who was winning, before deciding that was possibly the creepiest thing he could do in this situation. Instead, he pulled out his phone and started filming, starting with the girls, then capturing Percy and his new pillow girlfriend, and then finally Jason and Nico.

"Blackmail!" Leo sang. "Well, except for Jason and Nico. They do that anyway. It's still funny." He gasped. "I should send this to Calypso! She'll love it!"

* * *

In a small, but very expensive, house in Greece, a beautiful, elegantly dressed young woman was just about to leave when her phone buzzed. She smiled at the sender and started giggling at the message. She sat down and started a call.

"Leo, are you missing me?" She asked as soon as the other side picked up.

"What makes you say that?" Her boyfriend asked. "I'm only in an apartment full of people kissing the faces off of each other. Why would I miss anybody?"

Calypso laughed. "Because when I'm there, you have somebody to 'kiss the face off of,' as you so eloquently put it."

Leo sighed. "Fine. You got me. I miss you. A lot. When are you coming home? I need somebody to flirt with and make my friends jealous."

Calypso grinned, and glanced at the plane ticket on the table. "I don't know, I'm pretty tied up here. It might be a month."

"A _month_!" Leo practically yelled. Then muttered, "No, no Percy, don't disappoint your pillow friend. Go back to her. But keep your pants _on_." Then back to Calypso, "A whole _month_? It's already been three! I _need_ you. It's lonely. _And_ Jason and Nico keep using the apartment, so I don't have anywhere to hang out. And you've got that super cool giant place. We could hang out _all day_. And then everybody would be like, 'Hey, where's Leo?' 'I dunno, man.' And then we'd show up and I'd be like, 'BAM! I was hanging out with my super cool girlfriend.'"

Calypso giggled. "Well, I don't know. We'll have to see. I'll try and come soon. Love you." She blew a kiss into the receiver.

"Love you, too, babe. Come home soon."

**A/N: We hope you liked it. Let us know what you thought and we'll update soon!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hola amigos. Smart Girl and I weren't planning on updating any time soon (even though we've had this chapter written for... a while...) but then my favorite dynamic duo prince of death and prince of fortune reviewed a _different _fic, asking me to update this, so... Here it is. Enjoy!**

**I'd just like to say that Leo makes me cry in this chapter. And also Frazel is beautiful. And Annabeth is just so spot-on. Smart Girl, I love you.**

**Disclaimer: Neither Smart Girl nor I own PJO. Or, at least, I don't... Hopefully, she hasn't been holding out on me...**

**please review!**

Chapter Two

The next day, Percy woke with a splitting headache, hugging a pillow almost obscenely. He blinked furiously, trying to remember what had happened the night before. He rubbed the bridge of his nose, hoping the sledgehammer in his head would go away.

It didn't.

He looked around his living room, trying to piece together what had happened last night. Nico and Jason were wrapped around each other, shirtless, and asleep on the other's shoulder. It was actually surprisingly cute for a couple whose PDAs usually made Percy want to flee or throw up. Sometimes both.

Percy glanced around for Rachel and Thalia, but didn't see them, so he decided to make himself some coffee. As he stumbled to the kitchenette, he stepped on something warm and squishy. He squeaked in alarm (ok, _maybe_ it was more of a scream. But a very manly scream) and looked down to see Rachel and Thalia lying on the floor hugging each other the way Percy had been hugging his pillow.

Percy rubbed his eyes, saw that the girls were still there, then muttered, "I did _not_ need that image first thing in the morning." He covered his eyes partially, then carefully walked through his apartment, to the coffee machine. He kissed it. "Mmm. I love you, coffee machine."

"I see I've been replaced." A voice said from behind him. He whirled around to see Annabeth leaning in the doorway of their bedroom, wrapped in a comforter.

Percy chuckled nervously. Even though she was joking, she had that steel in her eyes that reminded Percy of the few times he had seen her mother. It was the look that made him feel about two inches tall. He picked his way across the living room and picked her up, kissing her soundly on the lips. "Of course not, Annabeth. My love for the coffee machine is purely ionic."

Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "I'm going to assume you meant 'platonic' there. Otherwise that sentence makes very little sense."

Percy grinned. "I love it when you say smart things."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "You're pathetic. I bet you don't even know what either of those words mean."

Percy smiled. "I actually do. I just like it when you correct me."

Annabeth chuckled and started to reply with a witty comeback, but started coughing.

"You are still sick, Miss Chase," Percy scolded. "I insist as the friend of a pre-med student that you go back to bed."

"Mr. Jackson, I am shocked by such a suggestion. What _will_ the neighbors think?"

"Miss Chase, how dare you accuse me of anything of that nature. And I thought you were a well-bred young lady."

"While this is all absolutely adorable," A lazy voice drawled from the couch, "can you do it when I'm not here? I have to deal with enough of this from Jason and Nico."

"You're just jealous you don't have anybody to be sickeningly adorable with," Percy said, carrying Annabeth bridal-style into their bedroom.

Behind him, he heard Leo muttering, "I keep telling them, she's in _Greece_. It's not like it's some country nobody's ever heard of. How hard is it to remember that I have a girlfriend?"

"You shouldn't tease Leo so much, you know. He's had some pretty serious issues," Annabeth chided when he set her down.

"I know, but he just makes it too easy. Like, it's not even fair." He tucked her in and smoothed her hair away from her forehead.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Whatever Seaweed Brain. You need to get to work."

"Oh crap!" Percy exclaimed. Either because of the panic, or his voice had been just a _little_ too loud, Percy's brain suddenly remembered that he had drunk _far_ more than he should have and was, therefore, hungover. His headache returned stronger than it had been when he woke up. He groaned, but waved off Annabeth's concern.

Fumbling through his pockets, he found his cell phone and made a call. "Hey Frank. How's it going? How's Hazel?"

"What do you need, Percy? You were supposed to be here half an hour ago, which means you're either sick or hungover. Given Annabeth hasn't called me, I'll go with-"

"Actually, Annabeth's sick. Also, would it kill you to talk quieter?"

"Oh, is she ok? What's she got, I know a really good remedy, it's really quick, and works like you couldn't believe." Frank stopped short. "You're trying to distract me. That _definitely_ proves you got drunk last night. You know, there are some times when I'm really glad that my girlfriend is underage. This is why."

Percy groaned. "Yeah, whatever. Can you cover for me until I get there? Make sure Mr. D doesn't find out. _Or_ the coach."

"I _know_, Percy. I've done it enough times. You know I really think-"

"Thanks Frank. You're a lifesaver. Gotta go. Be there soon." Percy hung up and stumbled into the shower. He turned on the cold water and jumped a little when it hit his bare skin. He cleaned himself as fast as humanly possible and pulled on his teal blue shirt and pants and ran out the door, chewing on a granola bar.

Outside of his apartment building, Percy ran down the sidewalk to his job at the zoo, which was thankfully close to home. It wasn't very large, which was how Percy had gotten the job. He had gone to college for a whole year before realizing he had no idea what he wanted to do with himself. He had been at the California beach when he realized that he could study in the ocean. It had taken all summer to convince his professors he could do the work required, but finally, he had been able to graduate as a marine biologist.

Back in New York, he had taken a job at the first aquarium that would take him. It was part of a full zoo, owned by a (usually drunk) fat old man named Mr. D. The zoo was actually run by Grover's slightly crazy uncle known as Coach Hedge. Coach had actually wanted to start a kickboxing club, but had been forced by his family to become a zookeeper. To ensure he spent as little time as possible with the actual animals, he had hired Frank, who was a surprisingly gentle wall of muscle. This had all been wonderful until Mr. D had decided the zoo needed an aquarium to really "take off." Thus, Percy had been hired.

At the zoo, the first thing Percy had to do was find Frank. He was, unsurprisingly, with his favorite animal, Hannibal the Elephant. "Hey man, I'm here, thanks for covering for me."

Frank rolled his eyes. "I still say you shouldn't do this sort of stuff when you have a job where you're supposed to get here early in the morning. I'm surprised you were only 45 minutes late. It's usually _hours_."

Percy shushed him. "Not so loud. No yelling."

"I'm not yelling. You're hungover."

"Potato, pot-ah-to. Just shhhhh. I have to make sure Tyson hasn't broken anything in his excitement. Be nice to me." He took a deep breath and composed himself. "Say hi to Hazel for me."

Frank nodded and waved Percy off.

Percy walked to to building that housed all of the aquatic animals and sighed as he walked in. The cool blue-green of the walls and water combined with the fish lazily swimming around their tanks could always calm him down. His peaceful mood, however, was soon to be shattered by Tyson shouting for him.

"Percy Jackson! Percy Jackson! Oh, thank goodness you're here. The, um, um, things don't look happy and they're-"

Percy held up a hand, eyes screwed shut and the other hand ineffectually covering an ear. "Please," he whispered, "don't talk. Just show." He opened his eyes slowly and lowered his hands.

Tyson opened his mouth to respond, but Percy shook his head. "No talking. I didn't get much sleep last night." Tyson nodded and led him to one of the exhibits. As it turned out, Tyson had given them the wrong food and they were still hungry, having been physically unable to eat. It was a simple mistake and easily fixed. Percy spent the rest of the day going about his usual business, which was surprisingly much easier once he downed one of Frank's homemade hangover remedies.

At the lunch break, Coach Hedge came to the table where Frank, Hazel, and Percy were seated. "Jackson. Nice to see you decided to come in to work today."

Percy swallowed the bite of sandwich he had taken and said, "What are you talking about, Coach? I've been here all morning."

Coach Hedge snorted. "Yeah, and I'm a carnivore. I came in to see if you were here and you were _not_. Tyson was the only one in the aquarium."

Percy put on his best idiot face. People usually thought he was stupid, so he had found meeting their expectations was better for him than actually being himself. "But Coach, I assure you, I've been here all day. I guess I was checking the filters when you were in the aquarium."

Coach Hedge grunted, thought about this, realized he had no good argument against it, glared at Percy, then stalked off.

As soon as the coach had left the building, Hazel burst out laughing while Frank tried not to smile. Percy grinned at the two, taking another bite of his sandwich. "Percy, you should've seen the look on your face." Hazel said, wiping tears from her eyes. "I love it when you do that."

Frank frowned at this, and, putting an arm around Hazel, said, "Hazel, don't encourage him. I'm _trying_ to convince him he shouldn't get drunk out of his mind every two weeks."

Hazel leaned into his embrace and said, "Oh, you just wait until I turn 21. We are going all out. I want to be so drunk I can't remember _anything_."

Percy chuckled. "Spoken like somebody who's never had a drink in their life. Just you wait Hazel. Two years, and then Frank here won't have an excuse to not hang out with us."

Frank groaned. "Don't remind me. How did I end up with a bunch of friends who _like_ to get drunk?" Before anyone could answer this, their lunch break was over, and the three went their separate ways, to see what havoc their "minions", as Percy called them, had wreaked.

* * *

That evening, when the zoo closed and the animals had all been fed, Percy trudged home, tired but happy it was the weekend. Outside of his apartment, his phone rang. Leaning against the door, he answered it. "Hello?"

"Hello Percy, it's me."

Percy's face broke into a grin and he unlocked his door. "Calypso! I haven't heard from you in forever! How's Greece?"

The voice on the other end broke into a chiming laugh. "Greece is wonderful. I've been so busy with my studies I've hardly had time for anything."

Percy walked into his apartment to see Annabeth wrapped in a comforter on the couch, reading a book. She looked up at his entrance and he mouthed, "Calypso." She nodded and patted the seat next to her. As Percy sat down, he said, "That's great. Hey, listen, is it all right if I put you on speakerphone? I just got home and Annabeth's here."

"Is Leo there?" Calypso asked.

Percy checked his watch. Leo's shift wouldn't start for another couple of hours. He glanced around the apartment, and didn't see him. He asked Annabeth and replied, "Nope. He's at his place. Well, Jason's, but you know."

"Ok, then it's alright. But you can't tell him about this phone call."

Percy raised an eyebrow he knew she couldn't see and put his phone on speaker. "Say hi, Annabeth." He whispered.

"Hi Annabeth," Annabeth whispered back sarcastically before saying, "Hi Calypso, it's so nice to hear from you. But isn't it…" she did some mental calculations, "midnight where you are?"

"I know," Calypso said, "but I couldn't wait until tomorrow and I didn't want to call you in the middle of the night."

"Ok," said Percy, "What is it? Did something happen?"

"I'm coming back!" Calypso exclaimed.

"That's great, when?" Annabeth asked. "And why can't we tell Leo?"

Percy smiled at his girlfriend. He kissed the crown of her head and pulled her in to lean on him.

"I'll be getting in tomorrow afternoon around 3 or 4. And you absolutely _can't_ tell Leo because I want to surprise him at his bar. So if you see him before then, don't tell him _anything_. I want him to be really, truly surprised."

"Hang on." Percy interrupted, "Why are you calling to tell us this?"

"Well," Calypso said, hesitating, "I was wondering if you could keep Leo away from everywhere I am before he starts his shift."

"But that's like, _four hours_!" Percy moaned until Annabeth smacked him.

"I'm sorry, Calypso. Percy apparently spends so much time with animals, he's becoming one. Of course we'll do it. Do you need somebody to pick you up from the airport?"

"Oh, no, don't bother on my account. I'm going to hire a car." Her voice turned cold and bitter. "It turns out my father is good for some things after all." Then her tone brightened, and she said, "Oh, look at the time. I really need to get some sleep if I want to do anything tomorrow. Goodbye. See you tomorrow."

"Bye Calypso." The couple chorused, and hung up. Annabeth leaned further into Percy and sighed. "I'm glad she and Leo found each other. They're so much happier."

"And this wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that she had a thing for me?" Percy asked, wrapping his arms around his girlfriend.

Annabeth laughed. "Percy, if I got jealous of everybody who ever had a thing for you, I would have to be jealous of everybody who's ever met you."

Percy threw his hands up. "You too? Everybody at the bar yesterday was saying that too!"

She kissed his jaw and said, "It's not your fault. You're just too lovable. But too bad for everybody else, I got you first."

He chuckled, then stood up, sliding Annabeth down on the couch. "As much as I would love to continue this, I need to get out of these clothes. Unless you want to smell salt water and fish all night."

Annabeth wrinkled her nose. "I'll pass. Go on, get changed. I'll just sit here with my book."

Percy kissed her forehead and went to their bedroom to get changed. In their bedroom, he sighed, rifling through his clothes drawer, freezing as he touched the small velvet box. He pulled it out carefully, in case Annabeth could hear, and opened it. He stared at the silver band, twisted around itself, with a sapphire sparkling in the center of the top. He tried to imagine it on Annabeth's finger. _It's no good,_ he thought, _I have to give it to her. It's just the two of us right now, and I'm pretty sure nobody's going to interrupt. How often does that happen? _He took a calming breath, and put it on the dresser, to go into his pocket when he was changed.

He came back in a T-shirt and sweatpants and dropped down on the couch. "I am exhausted. Tyson was being his usual special self."

Annabeth cooed sympathetically and said, "I don't know how somebody can be simultaneously that clumsy and that skilled. Has he ever considered that maybe zookeeping isn't his calling?"

Percy nodded gloomily. "He's told me that he would try a different job, but he knows I can't do it all myself. Which is true, but I still do twice as much work as I should, cleaning up after him." He sighed. "I don't know. But tell me about your day. You sound a lot better."

Annabeth nodded. "I got some medicine at the pharmacy, and I took some this morning when you came in."

Percy blushed. "Did we wake you up?"

"Well, it's never easy to sleep with a cold, and your yelling that you were bringing drunk friends didn't help." Annabeth laughed. "Leo was the only one of you who wasn't drunk out of his mind. We had a lovely little chat."

"With Leo? He's not what I would think of as philosophical."

"Nah. We just talked about how he always gets kicked out of his apartment. Oh, and you won't believe what Mr. Quint did today."

"What did the famous Mr. Quint do today?"

"He gave me his laptop with all of his blueprints on it. The architecture is _gorgeous_. I spent at least two hours looking at it. I'll have to show it to you sometime. It's given me so many ideas. I redesigned two of the motifs on one of my buildings."

"That's great, honey. I'm so proud of you." Percy turned his girlfriend around for a deep kiss. As they separated, a thought struck Percy. "Annabeth, have you ever wondered what it would be like if we got married?"

Annabeth pulled back, eyes wide. "Percy, are you proposing?"

"Not necessarily." Percy said carefully. "I'm just wondering if you ever wondered."

"Well," Annabeth said, "I'd be lying if I said no. It would be nice, I think. I'd get to introduce you as my husband and we could have a nice ceremony somewhere with all of our friends and your mom and dad and Paul, and my mom and dad, and we'd go on a little honeymoon somewhere _without_ beaches and we would annoy our friends for years to come because we're still madly in love with each other and-" She trailed off. "I'm sorry, you shouldn't let me go on like that."

Percy chuckled. "Not at all. I love hearing you talk about things you love. And I would love it," Percy pulled a small box out of his pants and slid to the floor on one knee, "If you would do me the honor of becoming my wife."

For a few awful seconds, Annabeth sat frozen, staring at him. Then she hugged him and kissed him fiercely. "Can I assume, then," Percy said, in between kisses, "That you're accepting?"

Annabeth stopped kissing him to say, "Of course I am, Seaweed Brain."

* * *

"I couldn't help but notice," Percy said a few minutes later, when they were back on the couch, "that you didn't include your stepmother in our guest list."

Annabeth groaned. "No. Just no. My stepbrothers aren't coming either. She'll just try to weasel in with one of them."

"Anybody else who's not allowed to come?" Percy asked teasingly.

"Hmm. Thalia's dad's wife. And that creepy girl at the beauty salon who stalks Jason. And that's about it." Annabeth said after some thought. "Is there anybody you don't want coming?"

"Nah. Everybody loves me, remember?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Of course. I'll make sure to extend a direct invitation to your supervisor at the zoo, then."

Percy's eyes widened. "Wait, no. Not him! Coach Hedge is _not_ coming to our wedding!"

Annabeth laughed at the fear in his face, and pulled him in for a kiss.

**A/N: So yeah, there's that. Stuff gets pretty real in the next chapter, so just let us know if/when you want an update. Until then, review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Heyyyyyyy guys. I am so sorry we haven't updated in forever, it's five million percent my fault cause we had this chapter written and I was just too lazy to edit it. But here it is, chapter three! I actually wrote some of this chapter but it was mostly Smart Girl, so love both of us. In this chapter, we have really freaking complicated Jasico, angry Caleo, and shipper Percabeth, so get excited. And please review!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Neither does Smart Girl.**

Chapter Three

Nico didn't really want to be a doctor. He didn't want to do endless amounts of paperwork, or have to deal with annoying people who only theoretically wanted help from him. Not to mention the hours and hours of homework he had from school, followed by drinking his troubles away as he watched the love of his life spend every waking moment with _his_ love of his life.

Jason was great. But he wasn't Percy.

Nico was still remotely hungover when he saw Jason's car pull up outside the building where Nico had his anatomy class- his last of the year, thank god. He took a shaky breath as he fixed the straps of his backpack over his shoulders, feeling like a teenager again as he approached the car.

"How was school?" Jason asked as Nico climbed into the passenger seat.

"Not horrible," Nico sighed. "How was work?"

Jason shrugged. "As good as it can be."

Nico nodded, then stared out the window as Jason pulled out of the parking lot. After a few minutes, he turned his head to ask, "Is Leo home?"

"I don't think so," Jason told him, "but I think we're headed straight to the bar. Percy asked us to meet him there." Nico's eyes lit up, but Jason immediately shot him down. "_All_ of us."

Nico sighed. "Right. Of course."

A little while later, Jason parked in front of the bar. As soon as the car was off, Nico unbuckled his seatbelt, tossed his backpack into the backseat, and climbed over into the driver's seat, pressing his lips against Jason's and using one hand to tilt the seat back.

"What are you doing?" Jason asked, pulling back. "No one's watching."

Nico nodded. "I know. And… look, I know we're… complicated, but… I do like you. So can I do this?"

Jason didn't answer, but Nico leaned down to kiss him again and he didn't object.

Nico walked hand in hand with Jason to the bar. Rachel was already there (Nico made a mental note to show her his paper about the long-term effects of alcohol on the human body), drinking away. Leo wasn't actually bartending this time, so he was sitting on the other side of the counter, drinking a screwdriver. "Hey dudes." He said, raising his glass. "You know why Percabeth told us to meet here?"

"No clue." Jason said, sitting down next to Leo. Nico, as per usual, draped himself across the boy. "Two beers, please."

"I hope they're gonna buy some drinks." Rachel muttered. "Dad's getting on my back about it again."

"Gee, I wonder why." Thalia said, plopping herself down next to the girl. "My usual, please."

The rather tipsy-looking bartender, a boy named Dakota, nodded and plunked down a glass, and poured in about two inches of clear liquid. "Here you go." He hiccupped and grinned sleepily.

"Leo, how did this guy ever get hired?" Nico asked, worried the man would faceplant on the bar.

Leo held up his hands. "I don't hire them. I barely knew he worked here."

"Hello!" Percy burst into the bar, dragging his girlfriend along with him.

"Annabeth!" The group chorused. Even as his heart panged, Nico smiled. Sure, he was in direct competition with her, but Nico couldn't help but like the girl. Everybody did. He had even thought he had a crush on her at first.

"Hi guys. I missed you all. Didn't miss people throwing up on my shoes."

"It was only once!" Rachel protested.

"That doesn't mean it won't happen again." Annabeth said, before sitting down, setting her bag on the floor. "I'll take a Coca-Cola, please."

"Annabeth, have some fun. You never drink with us." Thalia protested.

"I'm good. Plus, we're not here to get drunk." She looked up lovingly at Percy, and Nico felt the familiar twist of jealousy in his stomach. "We have an announcement to make."

"We're.." Percy began, smiling broadly. "Getting married."

Nico felt his heart shatter. His friends were congratulating the couple, but Nico could only stare blankly at the bar. Married? That meant he had absolutely no chance anymore. It wasn't like he'd had much of one before, but there had always been that hope. Now, it was gone. His life goal for the past three years was no longer possible.

"Hey," he vaguely heard Jason say from next to him, as his boyfriend took his hand. "You okay?"

Nico didn't answer. When Jason started kissing him, his senses reactivated, but it just made the pain worse. He focused on kissing Jason, on blocking out the sounds of laughter and applause. He closed his eyes and tried to pretend he was kissing someone else.

"Annabeth, Perseus! I've missed you so much!" Calypso hugged the couple as she kissed Annabeth. "How are you?"

"We're great, Calypso. In fact…" Annabeth held up her left hand to show the ring twinkling there. Calypso squealed.

"That's wonderful! I love it!" The girls led the way to the baggage claim, giggling and bent over the ring. Percy dutifully hauled the five bags Calypso had brought to the car her dad had ordered.

At the entrance to her apartment building, Percy stopped. "Am I supposed to take these all the way up to the fifteenth floor?"

The girls turned around. They had clearly forgotten he was there. "Oh, no Perseus, I'll have Wilson take them up. Wilson!"

Wilson, who was basically Calypso's personal butler, walked up. "Will you be needing my services, Miss?"

Calypso smiled stunningly. "Yes, I need you to please take my things up."

Wilson bowed. "Of course, Miss. I shall see to it myself."

Calypso thanked the man again and the three twenty-somethings took the elevator up to Calypso's apartment. They were greeted by an enormous arrangement of flowers that took up an entire table. "My silly father. Thinking flowers will magically fix everything."

There was an awkward silence, until Percy's phone buzzed and he saw a text from Leo, asking them where they were. "Annabeth, we'd better go distract Leo. See you tonight, Calypso." They said their goodbyes and headed to Leo's apartment.

"You're in _love_ with me?!" was all Nico could say as he paced back and forth, his hands gripping his hair.

"We've been dating for three years!" Jason protested. "You shouldn't be that surprised!"

"It wasn't that kind of a relationship!" Nico shouted.

"How would you know? It's not like we ever _talked_ about it!"

A small part of Nico's brain screamed at him to shut the hell up because he and Jason had never fought before, and he couldn't afford to be alone right now, but a much bigger part of him was too angry to care.

"I made it clear when I asked you out, Jason, I _don't like you,_" Nico reminded him. "This was only for Percy, and you agreed! What happened?"

"You're asking me to explain my attraction to you?" Jason asked incredulously. "I don't know! The acting got too real? You got better at kissing? You turned nineteen and suddenly got _more_ attractive?"

The compliments were lost on Nico as a new subject entered the argument. "_Nineteen_?" Nico exclaimed. "You've felt like this for a year and a half?! Why didn't you say anything?"

"I thought you'd freak out!"

"Well, _obviously_, I'm freaking out!"

Eventually, Nico and Jason both got tired of yelling and started giving each other the silent treatment, but even that didn't last long.

"You should probably move out," Jason said from the bedroom doorway.

Nico was sitting on the bed, hugging his knees to his chest, looking all of fifteen. He nodded. "You're right."

"I mean, you can stay until you find somewhere else," Jason amended.

Nico shook his head. "No. No, it's fine, I'll… I'll go back to living with Hazel, or... I don't know, I've got a friend in New Jersey I can stay with. I doubt she'd care."

Jason fiddled with his hands nervously, trying not to feel bad. Nico hated Jersey. "Sorry this got so complicated."

"It was already complicated," Nico corrected. "You just made it easy."

With that, Nico started gathering up the few things he kept at the apartment.

"You still coming to the bar later?" Jason asked hesitantly.

Nico was already halfway out the door and simply paused to answer the question. "I'm not in the mood for alcohol tonight. I doubt it would sit well."

He slammed the door on his way out.

Leo was sitting on the steps outside the building when Percy and Annabeth found him. "What's up?" Percy asked.

Leo sighed dramatically. "The lovebirds are having a fight. I wanted to stay out of it."

"Who?" Annabeth asked, "Nico and Jason? What on earth could those two fight about? They barely even talk."

Leo chewed his lip for a moment in thought, then shrugged. "Don't ask me. I heard yelling as I was coming home, so I just turned around and waited for you guys. I figured, why not spend all my time with a different totally-in-love couple." He sighed bitterly, then forced a smile on his face. "Sorry, long day. Let's go do something that doesn't involve copious drinking for once."

Percy felt so bad for the guy he almost told him about Calypso then and there, but thankfully, Annabeth stepped in.

"How about ice cream? To celebrate." Annabeth suggested, "accidently" stepping on Percy's foot.

Leo shrugged. "Works for me. To the happy couple."

The three walked to an ice cream shop three blocks away, which was only slightly terrifying when every two seconds Percy thought he saw Calypso. Once, he actually considered tackling Leo to the ground, but before he could, Annabeth grabbed his hand in a vice-like grip, imperceptibly shaking her head. So, they made it to the shop with little incident.

"My treat, guys, so get cheap stuff." Percy announced as they walked in.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Too bad, I'm getting a sundae. With everything on it." Percy groaned.

"I'll take mint chocolate chip with coconut shavings." Leo said to the man behind the counter. At Percy and Annabeth's strange looks, he explained, "Calypso's favorite."

They sat at a table in the back, with Leo facing away from the window. They didn't want to risk a Calypso sighting.

"I really want her to come home. It's no fun hanging out with two couples. And then there's Rachel and Thalia, but Rachel's never sober and Thalia is scary." Leo said, playing with his ice cream. This time, it was Percy who had to stop Annabeth from telling Leo.

"I'm sure she'll be back soon." Percy offered, grabbing Annabeth's hand to get her attention.

Leo laughed bitterly. "Yeah right. But whatever. You guys started wedding plans yet?"

Grateful for the topic change, Annabeth launched into all their plans, about the food and the venue and five million other things that Percy had _not_ been consulted on.

Four hours, Percy decided, had never passed as slowly in the history of the universe. They had gone from place to place, constantly worried about seeing Calypso. Annabeth had suggested they go back home and watch Gone with the Wind, but Percy had stopped that idea in the bud. "It would be wasting four hours, not spending them." He had said. Finally, Leo said he needed to get ready to go to work, and Percy could breathe again.

"I told you." Annabeth said as they walked home to freshen up, "We should've watched Gone with the Wind."

"Are you kidding me? Four hours with angsty Leo and a chick flick? No thank you. I'd rather be in a volcano during an earthquake."

"Well then," Annabeth said. "I guess we won't be watching our annual Star Wars marathon for our next anniversary."

"You did not just go there." Percy said. "We are too. The epic tale of one man's rise to awesomeness is too good to miss."

"If you're only watching for the 'rise to awesomeness,' why do you always get overly emotional about Han Solo and Leia?" Annabeth countered.

"I do not!" Percy protested. "I just feel very strongly about their relationship. It reminds me of us."

"And that just got you the marathon back." Annabeth said, kissing him on the cheek. "Now let's go to the bar. I don't want to miss the reunion."

Calypso had not showed up when they got there, so they settled in with Annabeth's coke and Percy's daiquri. The others trickled in slowly, except for, noticeably, Nico.

"He didn't feel too good." Was all Jason would say on the matter.

At nine thirty, Calypso walked in.

At nine thirty and two seconds, there was no bartender.

The couple kissed like they hadn't seen each other in three years, when it had only been a little over three months. All the stress of the day melted away for Percy as he saw the two reunited. It was so obvious that they were perfect together. Idly, he wondered if Leo would propose while Calypso was here.

Annabeth seemed to read his mind. "Wouldn't it be so cute if we had a double wedding?" she asked him.

"I don't know. Calypso's dad kinda hates all of us. I don't think he'd be too happy." Percy reminded her.

"Oh, Calypso wouldn't invite him. And it's not like he would come. The guy's so busy, you'd think he had the world on his shoulders. No, it would be great. All of our friends would only have to go to one wedding and one boring reception. Plus, Calypso's rich, so we could have it at a nicer place than either of us could afford." As usual, Annabeth was able to make it both adorable and practical (although Percy was appalled that she thought the reception was boring- it was the best part. It was the part with food).

"If I hadn't already proposed, I would ask you to marry me right now." Percy replied.

"Hey guys, drinks on the house!" Leo announced, looking happier than he had in weeks. "One glass of super expensive wine for my girlfriend, a beer for Jason, gin for Rachel, another gin for Thalia to steal from Rachel, a strawberry daiquri for Percy, and a Coca Cola for Annabeth. To Calypso!" The group cheered and girl blushed.

"Oh, Leo, stop it. You're embarrassing me."

"That's my job."

**A/N: And everyone's cute, you're welcome. Please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Here's chapter four! WARNING REYNA IS 8 MILLION PERCENT OOC BUT SHES ALSO WONDERFUL SO I THINK YOU GUYS WILL STILL LIKE HER. Also Bobby's in this chapter and Smart Girl and I totally made up his character since he doesn't actually exist in HoO grrrrr.**

**Anyway hope you like it please review!**

**ALSO WARNING PIPER FANS MIGHT NOT LIKE THIS CHAPTER. JUST KEEP IN MIND SHE'S ANNOYING FOR THE SAKE OF JASICO.**

Chapter Four

Nico really, really hated New Jersey. But it was where Reyna lived, so he had to go. Keeping his eyes closed as much as possible without dying to avoid any spray-tan sightings, he made his way to Reyna's pseudo-mansion. It was technically a legit mansion, but Nico liked the prefix "pseudo," so he called it that anyway. He walked through the always-open door and collapsed on her couch.

"Nico! Great to see you. I'm not wearing pants, though." Reyna greeted him.

"Shhh. I'm gonna start dating your couch." Nico replied, slightly muffled by the upholstery.

"Don't you have a boyfriend?"

"We broke up. I needed a place to crash. You don't mind, do you?"

"Nah. Are you ok? Do you want tea? Cookies? Just a lot of alcohol?" She immediately started fussing over him like a mother hen.

"I'm good. I just need time, I think. Sleep. Not Manhattan."

"I gotcha. Still, all the way to Jersey? That's some breakup."

Nico shrugged uncomfortably. "Yeah, well…"

"I'm gonna put on pants now."

"You do that."

Reyna returned a minute later with pants and a plate of cookies. "I was hungry." She explained.

Nico raised an eyebrow. "You're always hungry."

"And your point is? Have some. Chocolate fixes everything."

"That is such a lie," Nico said, even as he grabbed a cookie. One bite and he was moaning. "God, these are good."

"Duh. These are my patented fix-everything cookies. Oh, and I just got some peppers from Puerto Rico, so we're having tacos in about…" She checked her watch. "53 minutes."

Nico frowned, chewing thoughtfully. "If I remember correctly, the last time you made tacos, I ended up having a baby kangaroo in my apartment."

"These won't be my Tipsy Tacos. Just normal ones. With a splash of tequila."

Nico nodded. "Good. I don't think I could deal with a kangaroo right now."

"No kangaroos." Reyna agreed. "I promise."

53 minutes later, they were eating Reyna's (amazing) tacos and Nico noticed Reyna was staring at him. "Is there something on my face?" He asked.

"Yes, actually. But I'm actually trying to figure out if you're ok. You can tell me about it."

Nico wiped his face with a napkin and sighed. "It's… complicated. I found out Percy was getting married."

"Ouch." Reyna winced in sympathy.

"Yeah. And then it turned out my boyfriend, you know, the one I started dating to make Percy jealous, actually fell in love with me. A year and a half ago."

"Eww. That's no good. What was he like?"

"Well… A lot like Superman, actually."

Reyna looked up thoughtfully. "I knew a guy like that. But I'm pretty sure he had a relationship with a brick, so you wouldn't be his type."

"Well, I don't know. He did manage to pass out a slightly ridiculous amount of times. It was kinda weird."

"And that of course had nothing to do with your copious drinking?"

Nico looked at his shoes until Reyna punched him in the arm. "I was just kidding, Angel."

"Don't call me that."

"Aww, but you're so cute!"

"Shut up."

* * *

"J-man! What's with the face?" Percy asked, sliding up next to Jason. He cringed "Sorry, that sounded better in my head."

"It's fine. I'm just feeling a little down."

"And would this have anything to do with a certain sulking, broody teenager?"

Jason rolled his eyes and grabbed another beer. The bar was practically unattended since the bartender was currently making out with his stunningly beautiful girlfriend. "He's 21."

"Shhh." Percy put a finger to the other man's lips. "He's still 12 in my brain. And you're ignoring the question."

"It's… complicated." Jason replied, not meeting Percy's gaze. He didn't want to tell him that Nico had only asked him out to make Percy jealous. Nico wouldn't like that.

"Complicated how?" Percy asked in his best therapist voice. It wasn't very good.

"Complicated." Jason sighed. He knew Percy wouldn't leave him alone without an answer, so it was time to make something up. "I don't know if you heard, but we had a fight. We both said some pretty nasty things. I know I… said things that touched a nerve. He walked out. I haven't seen him since."

Percy patted the man's shoulder. "Jason…" He said, as if imparting great wisdom. "You screwed up."

"Tell me something I don't know." Jason muttered into his beer.

"Bet you don't know that you two will get back together."

"Yeah right."

"Are you kidding me? You two are as in love as me and Annabeth. It'll happen. You'll see."

Mentally, Jason scoffed. I wish. All I was to Nico was a prop. A ploy to get the man he really loves. And I can't even hate him. Either of them. But all he did was shrug and say, "We'll see."

* * *

A few days after Calypso had arrived, Annabeth came to the realization that she and Percy were the only ones who were happy. Rachel wasn't showing up as often anymore, saying she was busy. Thalia had family issues to deal with. But Annabeth was really worried about Leo and Jason. Nico had stayed away and Jason seemed to be suffering for it. He was drinking more than he usually did, and more often, too. Leo had mentioned that Jason was coming in even when the group didn't meet up. And speaking of Leo, the man's early happiness had faded. Even when he was with Calypso, he seemed distant and worried. Annabeth was sick of it and wanted to make sure all of her friends could come to the wedding. She resolved to get to the bottom of this.

"Hey Jason." The man already had a few beers under his belt, which was to Annabeth's advantage. "What's up?"

"Nothing. Just beer." Jason muttered, taking another swig.

"Why so much?"

Jason raised an eyebrow. "We always get really drunk here. It's tradition."

"That is true." Annabeth admitted. "But it's 5 o'clock on Tuesday. The others aren't even here."

"Huh? Then why are you here? Percy's here, right?"

"Nope. Just us. And Dakota, but he's looking a little tipsy, so I don't think he really hears us."

"You're at this bar… without Percy?" Jason seemed to be having trouble processing what was happening, making Annabeth wonder just how long the man had been there.

"Yes Jason. I do go places without him sometimes. But what I haven't ever seen is you and Nico not together. You two have practically been glued together for the past three years. Where is he?"

Jason let out a short, bitter laugh. It sounded wrong coming out of Jason's mouth. "Jersey."

"Jersey? I thought Nico hated Jersey."

"Apparently he likes it better than he likes me."

"Why do you say that?"

"'Cause he left me. For Jersey." Jason swallowed the rest of his beer and wiped his arm across his face.

"I'm sorry, Jason. Do you want to tell me what happened?"

"Will you promise not to tell Percy?"

Annabeth nodded.

After Jason had finished his story, Annabeth understood why he was drinking heavily on a Tuesday. "Jason, that's awful. Why didn't you say anything?"

"Oh yeah, I'll just say, 'Hey guys, remember how me and Nico were super close? That was all a lie to make Percy jealous and now he's left me 'cause I fell in love with him.' Oh yeah, that'll work." Jason ordered another beer, but Annabeth shook her head at Dakota.

"Jason, you can't just drink yourself into a stupor."

"Why not?"

"Because you'll die."

"So?"

"Well, if I'm right, and I usually am, somebody will be needing a best man and you'll be his first choice."

That made Jason pause. He blinked, confused. "Who?"

"Leo. If Rachel did her job, he should be going to propose any day now."

Jason looked lost. "Wait, what? What's been going on?"

Annabeth patted his shoulder. "Let me catch you up."

* * *

Rachel groaned. Why did Annabeth have to be such a great person that it was impossible to get mad at her? If she had said no to Annabeth, she could be out with… people. Well, really only one person. But no, she had to say yes and now she was sober (which hadn't happened much in the past 4 or 5 years), and trying to be a relationship counselor for Leo Valdez.

"Why are you so freaking depressed, man? Your girlfriend is home and everything's going great." Mentally, Rachel kicked herself. Who talks like that?

Leo plastered on a fake smile. "I'm not depressed. Leo Valdez doesn't get depressed."

"Dude, just stop. What's wrong?"

Leo sighed, mask slipping off his face. "It's about Calypso."

Rachel gasped. "You are not breaking up with her."

"No! Of course not. But I think she came back to break up with me."

Rachel stared at him for a full minute. "Are you insane?! She's totally in love with you!"

"Oh yeah?" Leo burst out, suddenly angry. "If she's so in love with me, why does she keep having to go to 'business meetings' with her dad? She hates her dad." He slumped down, energy spent. "She's probably meeting with somebody else. She came back to see him and dump me."

Rachel stood up, walked to the nearest easel, picked up a paintbrush, and chucked it at Leo's head.

"What was that for?"

"For being a complete idiot. You are not going to throw away a beautiful girl and relationship because of your self esteem issues."

"But she's so beautiful and rich and I'm… not."

"You think she cares about that?" Rachel was getting angry now. "Dude, she and I are basically the same person. She doesn't like rich dudes. They're mostly slimeballs. And when by some miracle, we get to meet a nice guy who really likes us, the last thing we're gonna do is let him slip away! Have you lost your mind? Do you want to break your heart and hers? 'Cause you're nuts if you think I'm gonna let that happen."

"But if she's not seeing somebody else, then where is she going?"

"Business meetings with her dad, like she told you. She's organizing something. It might even mean she gets to stay here permanently." Leo perked up and Rachel held up a hand. "But don't let her know I said anything. Now go find your girlfriend. She probably misses you."

Leo got up to go, but paused halfway to the door. "Hey Rachel, I need some advice."

"What now?"

He pulled a small velvet box out of his pocket. "What do you think? Will she like it?"

Rachel went over and inspected the ring. It was just one simple diamond, but it was beautiful. "Leo, it's gorgeous. She'll love it."

"I hope so. Wish me luck."

"Go make her happy, Valdez."

* * *

Calypso was checking her makeup for the fifth time when Leo (finally) came over. She had been on pins and needles all evening. She had invited Leo over spontaneously, which was not her strong suit. Usually, she had known about their dates for at least 24 hours beforehand, leaving her with plenty of time to plan everything. Now she had texted Leo, started dinner, and gotten ready all within 45 minutes. Then she had wandered around her apartment, trying to find something to do before Leo got there.

"Hey bae!" Leo said as he entered, giving her a bear hug. "I didn't realize this was business casual."

Calypso frowned for a moment, then realized. "Oh sorry, I was in meetings with my dad and forgot to change." She looked down at her jacket/dress pants outfit. It had looked great in the board room, but didn't scream 'Please propose to me, you idiot'. "I'll just go and change. Will you keep an eye on the food? And no adding anything." She walked back to her room, taking calming breaths.

"I still say some peppers couldn't hurt!" Leo called. Calypso rolled her eyes. He was so ridiculous sometimes.

She came back in jeans and a t-shirt and kissed him on the cheek. "It should be done now. Can you get the plates?"

Between the two of them, they soon had the food set out and sat down to eat. They made small talk, mostly, until the end of the meal. "So why were you meeting with your dad anyway? You hate him." Leo asked.

"I told you," She chastised him, "I don't hate him. We just have… disagreements over some things. But the meetings are a necessary evil. I don't want to get your hopes up, but I might be able to make a permanent relocation."

"You might be able to stay here?" Leo looked like a two-year-old on Christmas morning. "That's awesome! And.. it makes this easier." He took a deep breath, then stood up, pulling her up with him. "Calypso, you're the most amazing girl I've ever met. You're kind and funny and you listen to my ramblings about all the stuff I want to make." They both chuckled a bit. "And you… You make me a better person. I'm happier and I feel better and I think I might make you happy sometimes too. But I want to make you happy all the time." He slid onto one knee and pulled out a small box. "Will you marry me?"

Calypso had had a lot of wonderful gifts in her life. Having a father who was very rich and felt very bad about the things he had done that led to that. But all the bracelets and necklaces encrusted with precious stones in the world couldn't compare to the ring that Leo was holding up to her. "Yes, Leo. Yes I will."

* * *

Nico woke up to the smell of delicious food. "Reyna, I love you."

"Careful, Nico. The couch might hear." She walked around the kitchen, pant-less, adding ingredients here and there.

"Too bad." He stumbled down the stairs. "Reyna, why do I have a hangover? I thought you said they weren't the Tipsy Tacos?"

"They weren't." She replied, sounding way too clear-headed. It wasn't fair. "We just had whiskey milkshakes."

He rubbed his face. "Why did we think that was a good idea?"

"Well, I believe your logic was that you couldn't get drunk if there was milk involved. Evidently, you were wrong." She stirred the pan and tasted it. "Do you think this could use a little rum?"

"Please no. I need your hangover remedy." Nico flopped onto the couch (which was still amazingly comfortable).

"This is the hangover remedy. I just think it would taste better with some rum."

"I don't care how it tastes." Nico moaned. "Just no alcohol, please."

Reyna set a steaming plate of food in front of him. "FIne, but soon you'll be hungry and I'll make something with alcohol. I always say, 'Only one meal without alcohol a day.'"

Nico stared blankly at her. "I have never heard you say that in my life and I've known you since fifth grade." His phone buzzed. "Hey, Leo's getting married."

"Ooh, who's he marrying? And who is he?"

"He's marrying Calypso. Really hot Greek girl? And he's the Spanish dude from Texas."

"Ooooooooh. Is that the one I had a thing for?"

"Yeah." An idea dawned on him. "Hey Reyna! I need a date!"

"You want me to set you up?"

"NO. I was more thinking you come with me to Leo and Calypso's wedding."

Reyna considered the idea. "Do I have to wear pants?"

"I don't know. It's not my wedding."

"Will there be delicious eatables and/or free drinks?"

"It's a wedding."

"Sweet. I am THERE!"

"Grazie."

* * *

"YO, Bobby. I need a favor," Jason called as he walked into the salon. He nodded hello to Gwen and Butch, the other stylists, before starting with the client that the receptionist Dakota (yes, the same one who worked at Leo's bar) pointed him toward.

"What is it, dahling? Anything for my favorite blond." Bobby replied, walking around the salon, inspecting the styles. He was the boss and a bit of a perfectionist about hair. He was always changing his own style and today was sporting bright blue locks artfully swept across his forehead.

"I've got a double wedding in two weeks. I'm gonna need Monday off." He explained, getting the client settled down and starting the cut.

"Oh, do tell. Who is it? Tell me everything."

"You don't know them." Jason deadpanned, not wanting a gossip session about his friends. "Can I still go?"

Bobby huffed. "I suppose. But if you can get me in, you get Tuesday too."

"Deal."

A slow, valley-girl voice interrupted. "Are you going to a wedding?" Piper, the third stylist, walked up. She leaned in close, large eyelashes fluttering in Jason's face. "I could be your date."

Jason backed up, eyes pleading Bobby for help. "I'm good. I was planning to ask… somebody." Not you. He thought.

"Piper, hun." Bobby interjected. "I don't think that look is working for her. Here, darling, let me help you."

"But Bobby," Piper drawled. "I'm trying to get Jason to realize that he's straight."

In that moment, looking into Bobby's eyes, Jason knew what true fear was.

"Hun, your client's gonna get upset. Client is always the most important thing. And I want to see you after work."

Piper rolled her eyes and sauntered off, mouthing call me at Jason.

Then an idea came to Jason. "Hey Bobby, can I make a personal call? It's about the wedding."

"Oh, hun, you go right ahead."

"Thanks." Jason called Reyna. "Hey, RaRa, wanna go to a wedding?"

"Will it require pants?"

"Yes, Reyna."

"Will there be food?"

"It's a wedding."

"All right. You've convinced me."

"Sweet. It's in Manhattan. You remember Percy and his really hot girlfriend?"

"You mean the one I had a thing for?"

"Yeah. They're getting married."

"OH YEAH! I am THERE!"

"Love yah, RaRa."

**A/N: Hope you liked it, please review!**


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